Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators

Journal of Materials Chemistry A profiles contributors to the Emerging Investigators issue.

Reviewing the present and future of “Green” metal halide double perovskite nanocrystals as potential optoelectronic materials.

Polymeric coatings provide opportunities to control matter and energy in complex environments, including applications in artificial photosynthesis and solar fuels.

This review summarizes the recent progress in characterizing, understanding, and modifying the chemomechanical properties of layered oxide cathode materials.

A review on organic photoelectrochemical water splitting cells giving perspective on promising device architectures and materials.

This review highlights the intriguing physicochemical and structural versatility of PDA-based nanomaterials and their energy conversion and storage applications.

In order to solve the energy crisis and reduce the environmental impact of the combustion of fossil fuels, the strategy of obtaining hydrogen using the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has great potential.

Perovskite solar cells have emerged as promising candidates for photovoltaics. Passing existing standards is a necessary minimum requirement for a possible commercialisation. Here, we analyse the most current international stability standards and to which degree perovskites have passed them. We then elaborate on the most pertinent challenges for the long-term stability of perovskites in the coming years.

We provide an update on the current state of the tolerance factor concept for hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites, reviewing the different improvements that have been made over the past few years.

This review summarizes recent advances in the preparation and characterization of 2D heterostructures for energy storage and conversion.

The article briefly summarizes the development of material designs including molecular and polymeric frameworks from trichloro-s-heptazine.

Halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) and quantum dots (QDs) have received considerable attention, due to their superior photoluminescence quantum yields close to unity, variable morphologies, and tunable optical bandgaps achieved by modifying their composition, size and dimensionality.

This article summarizes the photocatalytic water splitting performance improvement with a heterojunction system.

The synthetic methods of two-dimensional polymers and their applications in energy storage and conversion are reviewed with an emphasis on the underlying method–structure–property relationships.

We report the first microporous cobalt imidazolate glass obtained from a meltable cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework, ZIF-62(Co).

A deeply rechargeable zinc anode material with nanoscale pomegranate-structured was designed and synthesized for the high energy aqueous batteries.

A water-soluble Co₆S₈ molecular cluster was prepared and electrochemically analyzed as a potential active material for redox flow battery applications.

Nano-interfaces between MnO_x islands and NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets were tuned using atomic layer deposition thereby enhancing oxygen evolution activity.

With alternating binding of reaction intermediates, O-terminated MXenes display low theoretical overpotential for CO₂ reduction reaction.

Recently developed, highly stable perovskite materials show promise for use in concentrator photovoltaics where the illumination intensity far exceeds standard test conditions.

Controlled chemical etching of Si wafer by Ag⁺ ions results in the effective Si/Ag interface for photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction to CO.

An oxidative polymerization reaction was brought into the solvent-free environment of a ball mill, yielding a porous polymer with a defined structure and high surface area.

This paper describes a rational electrochemical method for selecting appropriate supramolecular dopants that convert p-type SWNTs to their n-type forms.

Crystalline Ti–Fe mixed sulfide nanoboxes are fabricated and demonstrate enhanced electrocatalytic activity and excellent stability for the oxygen evolution reaction.

The pore structure and surface area of CNT-based electrodes is analysed by SAXS/WAXS, including under eletrochemical measurements.

Cobalt hydroxide species are at the origin of OER activity of multiheteroatom doped carbon catalysts.

This article identifies Pt-oxide interlayers at the buried interface of Si-oxide/Pt thin films and explores their implications for electrocatalysis.

P2-type sodium transition metal oxides undergo water-driven structural changes that strongly affect electrochemical charge storage in aqueous electrolytes.

Terahertz spectroscopy unravels the inner working principles of polymer:fullerene blend organic semiconductors with regard to their solar cell performance.

We demonstrate a template-free and scalable approach towards synthesis of a new family of multiple heteroatom-doped (N/O, N/S/O, N/P/O, and N/S/P/O) few-layer carbons as metal-free catalysts for the high performance oxygen reduction reaction under pH-universal conditions.

An artificial light harvesting system based on cationic eco-friendly CuInS₂ QDs as efficient electron donors, in water, is presented.

Directional freeze casting enables the assembly of bimodally porous micronomolith Fischer–Tropsch catalyst bodies with enhanced effective thermal conductivity and pore molecular transport rates, leading to a high selectivity to liquid olefin products.

The conversion efficiencies of dye sensitized solar cells were largely enhanced by the optimization of intramolecular and interfacial charge transfer.

The chemical stability of polyphenylene oxide grafted with quaternary ammonium salts, ionomers relevant for the development of practical alkaline fuel cells, is studied using hydroxide at different water microsolvation levels.

Nickel phosphide (Ni₅P₄) nanosheets are synthesized using in situ chemical vapor deposition of P on Ni foam, which demonstrate good electrochemical performance including high rate capability. The lithiation mechanism is studied with operando NMR.

High values of maximum rates of hydrogen production are obtained using four thin film nanocomposites that showed recycling features.

Improved phase purity in 2D hybrid perovskite thin films with horizontal crystal orientation was achieved through slow crystallization employing lead-complexing solvent additives.

Iodide-induced kinetic control enables selective surface passivation of palladium through underpotential deposition of copper to generate terraced palladium–copper particles.

The mechanism of CO₂ utilization by a metallocyclam-based metal–organic framework catalyst, termed VPI-100, is studied.

Deploying earth abundant copper as a redox mediator in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has been found to be a very promising strategy to achieve higher photovoltage and power conversion efficiencies in full sun (100 mW cm⁻²) and in low/diffuse light conditions.

A graphdiyne analogue featuring pyrazine as the aromatic center was synthesized under air using a liquid/liquid interfacial synthesis. It served as a metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water.

A thiol–ene ‘click’ photopolymerization methodology for the covalent connection between vinyl-functionalized metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and the polymer matrix.

Single transition metal atoms supported by defective g-C₃N₄ are examined by DFT for electrochemical N₂ fixation. The single Ti atom is the most promising candidate for its high activity and stability owing to the coordination number of the active center.

Ultrathin Au–Ag alloy nanowires were synthesized using a novel Ag-halide capping effect for atomic deposition of Pt for catalytic applications.

Perovskite oxides are promising materials for photoabsorbers and electrocatalysts for solar-driven water oxidation.

A structural design of conjugated microporous polymers for the photocatalytic carbon–carbon double bond cleavage is presented.

Using experimental and computational methods, lithium ion mobility and the pathways for lithium conduction in Li₂La(TaTi)O₇ have been studied.

Visible light-induced changes in mixed-ion perovskites with different compositions are investigated using photoelectron spectroscopy.

Vertically-oriented TiS₂ nanobelt arrays allow for the fabrication of carbon- and binder- free electrodes with high ion diffusion lengths.

In situ deposition of PANI on the surface of MXenes leads to the fabrication of high performance supercapacitor electrodes.

Self-supported Ni₃S₂ with hierarchical urchin-like subunits was hydrothermally synthesized with superior areal pseudocapacitance and powered 8 red LEDs.

Nickel cobaltite@reduced graphene oxide (NiCo₂O₄@rGO) hybrid architectures directly deposited on nickel-foam (NF) are synthesized, showing kinetic and structural stability achieved by the rGO interlayers for improved energy density and cyclic stability of the hybrid supercapacitors.

A lithiophilic Co/Co₄N-N-doped carbon electrode displays a high coulombic efficiency (98.5%) and dendrite-free morphology for long-life Li–air batteries.

The ionic liquid, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, was introduced into SnO₂ films to enhance the conductivity of both SnO₂ and overlying perovskite film for perovskite solar cells with efficiency exceeding 21%.

Four small molecules were designed and synthesized with various acceptors, and their acceptor effects on molecular properties and device performances were investigated. The molecules based on medium strong acceptors obtained excellent efficiencies (ranged from 8.5% to 10.1%).

Superhydrophilic ternary Co–B–P nanosheets are developed as a hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst showing Pt-like catalytic activity and superior stability in alkaline media.

Two-dimensional cobalt–organic frameworks with abundant metal sites have been successfully prepared and directly adopted as efficient OER catalysts.

Unique Li₄Ti₅O₁₂/TiO₂ multilayer arrays from a substrate-free method demonstrate advanced surface lithium storage capability.

Porous organic cage (POCs) are explored as a support for hazardous gas sorbents. The molecular mixing between the POC and methylated poly(ethylene imine) was observed and resulted in the improvement of mass transfer and thermal stability of the composite material.

The abundance and low cost of sodium potentially enable application of sodium ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage.

CuInS₂/ZnS QDs with tunable bandgaps were applied at the CsPbBr₃/carbon interface for improved hole extraction and reduced electron–hole recombination. A PCE of as high as 8.42% was achieved for QDs tailored all-inorganic PSC in comparison with 6.01% for the pristine device.

A covalently cross-linked ‘reactive’ multilayer was strategically associated with a stretchable fibrous substrate to design a ‘fish-scale’-mimicked stretchable and durable interface, which was capable of sustaining high tensile deformation (150%) for 1000 times, and it was also efficient in performing under various physically/chemically severe scenarios.

Sr₂TiO₃F_2−x, a potential anode material for fluoride ion batteries, is prepared in the charged state via selective low-temperature defluorination.

A novel Au_xCu–CuS@TiO₂ heterostructured catalyst with a periodic nanoporous morphology, exhibiting a plasmon-enhanced glycerol oxidation, was developed.

The balance between expanding and contracting forces of lamellar clay minerals was exploited for preparing self-repairable nanofluidic membranes.

A powerful solid-phase hot-pressing method was applied to grow POMOFs and derived phosphides on carbon cloth rapidly and uniformly.